Daniel's Desire - By Sherryl Woods Page 0,67
a son like you.”
“Yeah, well, they’ve got me,” Daniel said.
Patrick frowned at that. For what seemed like an eternity, he appeared to be debating with himself about something. “Look,” he said finally, shoving his hands in his pockets in a nervous gesture. “If you think it would make a difference, I could…” He sighed, then said, “I could come with you. It would be like an olive branch or something.”
Daniel regarded him with surprise. “You would do that?”
“I want this to end,” Patrick said. “Believe it or not, I don’t like living with all this tension. Every time the subject of families comes up, Alice gives me this look, you know? Like she’s disappointed in me. I can’t stand it. I hate letting her down. And we’ve got a baby coming that I need to consider. I don’t want my child to have grandparents nearby who aren’t a part of his life.”
Daniel grinned. “Yeah, I get that look from Molly a lot, too. Okay, if you’re sure, hop in. We’ll see if we can’t catch ’em off guard and get them over here before they realize what they’re getting into.”
“You, Mr. Straight Arrow, are going to drag them over here without telling them who’s waiting for them?”
“I’ll tell them as much as necessary to keep Dad from having a heart attack,” Daniel said tightly.
Patrick nudged him in the ribs. “Way to go, bro.”
“Save the compliments. You’re going to need all that charm to help me get Mom and Dad out of the house.”
They’d inadvertently picked the perfect time, Daniel realized when he saw that his parents were all dressed up for five o’clock Mass.
When he climbed out of his car, his mother regarded him with a quizzical expression. “Daniel, you never come by at this hour on a Saturday. You know we go to church. Is something wrong?”
Just then Patrick exited the car.
“Oh, my,” his mother said. She took a step toward Patrick, then hesitated.
Patrick held back for a minute, then relaxed. “Hi, Mom,” he said as if they’d parted on good terms only days before. “Daniel and I thought we might go to church with you and Dad.”
Her expression brightened. “Really?”
Daniel realized that his sneaky brother had formed his own plan for getting them to Jess’s. First, church, a lot of praying, and then the suggestion of dinner out. He wondered when Patrick planned to lay the rest of his scheme on the table. Probably not until they were at the front door of Jess’s. Daniel thought that might be cutting it a little close. He figured the best time to do it would be on the drive over, when they were going sixty miles an hour. Not even his father would try to duck out of a car moving at that speed. And then no one could say they hadn’t been warned. He subtly gave his brother a thumbs-up sign. So far, so good.
Just then his father stepped outside. He greeted Daniel, then caught sight of Patrick. “What’re you doing here?” he asked warily, darting a look toward his wife as if to make sure she wasn’t upset.
“Making peace,” Patrick said.
“Yeah, right,” his father scoffed. “What happened really? Did you run out of money?”
“Connor!” his mother said sharply. “Our son has come home. He and Daniel are going to church with us. This is something we’ve hoped and prayed for. Be grateful.”
Daniel watched as his father bit back what probably would have been another scathing remark. Instead he reached for his wife’s hand and gave it a squeeze.
“Well, let’s get going,” he said gruffly. “No point in standing around out here. The priest isn’t going to wait for us to get there.”
“I’ll drive,” Daniel said. “Dad, sit up front with me.”
When everyone was seated, he drove to the small church where they’d attended services as far back as he could remember. He stood back as Patrick helped his mother from the car and saw her beam at him, looking happier than she had since the day Patrick had walked out of the house—certainly happier than she had on his one tension-filled visit a few weeks earlier with Ryan, Sean and Michael.
“Don’t know why that boy picked now to come back,” Connor grumbled to Daniel. “But I’m glad for your mother’s sake. She’s missed him.”
“And you haven’t?” Daniel asked lightly.
His father shrugged. “He was a good fisherman. Of course I miss his help.”
Daniel shook his head. “Give it up, Dad. You know you’ve been every bit as miserable as